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Ranil Wijayapala has done a good piece. Now he should ask the Indian
authorities what they are doing about Indian fishermen poaching in Sri
Lankan waters and allowing the LTTE to operate with them. We should
support the Security Forces.
The Security Forces cannot do this alone and the boot lickers of the
Opposition and NGO supporters of the LTTE are making things difficult
for the Security Forces.
We should support the Security Forces whenever and in whatever way we
could.
PANDUKA SENANAYAKE
The Government has taken steps to encourage the production of milk
throughout the country as a solution to the import of powdered milk
whose price fluctuates gradually.
It is really an incentive for cattle-rearing which is useful not only
for obtaining milk but also for manure which is a must for agriculture.
It is obvious that NLDB milk sales outlets are opened in many urban
as well as rural areas, so that milk can be bought by the consumers.
When delving into the history of Sri Lanka, this cannot be regarded
as a new experience for the citizens of this country, because milk
production has gone hand in glove with our ancient agriculture.
It was the Kerala people who started the rearing of cattle and
introduced milk products to Sri Lankans. Narahenpita was a famous place
in the past where a large herd of cattle was reared by the Kerala
people.
As a result, the name Narahenpita was derived from ‘Narayan’s Patti’
(Narayan’s herd of cattle). This ‘Patti’ or herd of cattle had become
the main distribution point of milk to the city.
It need hardly be said that Sri Lankan culture has been influenced by
Cholas, Pandyas, Kerals and Palla who migrated to this country from time
to time.
It is obvious that milk has become part and parcel of Indian culture,
based on the large scale rearing of cattle as our biggest neighbouring
country.
Indians have got used to drink tea with a mixture of milk. If they
had got used to habit of drinking powdered milk imported from other
countries, they could have spent much foreign exchange.
But their motto ‘Be Indian and buy Indian’ led them to save much
foreign exchange. In the same way, I am of the opinion that we have no
barrier when it comes to depending on our products.
It is not once or twice that our scholars have pointed out the
necessity of building our own cultural patterns.
But unfortunately, many youngsters have gradually rejected tea as a
beverage by giving priority to other drinks which are not considered to
be good even for health.
In this way, the slavish mentality of many of us, has stood in the
way of the development of our country. Their misdirected priorities have
to be removed to stand on our feet as a remedial step.
No doubt , learning the subjects like history which have become
compulsory today, helps our younger generation to come out of this
morass. The patronage given by the Government will slowly but surely
help the people concerned to achieve this goal.
R. SOMASIRI –
Pannipitiya
Once a year we see at post offices and sub-post offices, a board
hanging which states ‘Postal Week’.
But people do not know even what it means, because it does not make
any progress during or after that week, though the authorities promise
many improvements in the postal section.
Even last postal week, the Ministry promised to open up more and more
stationery shops in post offices, under the impression that it is the
only requirement to improve the postal work.
But I would like to state that stationery shops are not the postal
work. But the Postal Department is an agent which keeps the people in
the world connected to each and every person, rich or poor, old or
young, men or women, educated or uneducated and so on, which keeps the
world trades connected to each other by means of transferring their
correspondence.
Though the mobile phone has become popular all over the world, most
of the population depend on the letters and telegrams, not only in the
villages but also in town areas.
As such, the improvement of postal work is not opening of stationery
shops but quickening the way of delivering letters and telegrams in
time.
Instead of the normal telegram system, there is an ‘e’ mail system,
but it is limited to the town areas only.
Telegrams get delayed for weeks. Letters get delayed for months. The
reason for the delay of letters sometimes is caused due to
non-availability of the normal postal buses. I could remember once the
Minister said, that a system must be arranged to transfer mail even by
private buses whenever the CTB buses are not available.
Delivery of telegrams is delayed. It is mainly because, it is being
handled by two departments. Acceptance of telegrams and delivery is done
by the Postal Department, but the transmission is done by the Telecom.
Though the delay is badly affected through the transmission, the blame
goes to the Postal Department.
As such, either the handling may be given to the Telecom or it may be
taken over completely by the Postal Department.
Another main reason for all these delays is the closing of post
offices on Sundays and holidays.
When the banks and other companies started to keep open their
business places for the public on holidays and Sundays, the Postal
Department took a decision to close down the post offices on such days.
That is the main reason for the delay for letter delivery and
telegram delivery. Otherwise even on Sundays telegrams were transmitted
to their destinations and there were messengers to deliver them.
I would like to request the Minister and the Post Master-General to
take a decision to keep open post offices on Sundays and holidays and to
take over or give away the full responsibility of handling telegrams to
the telecommunication’s branch.
WILSON NELUMDENIYA –
Kelaniya
Curd pots
The other day as I was passing by, I noted some small clay curd pots
about three inches in diameter.
I dropped into the stall and enquired about the prices. It was almost
the price of a small cup of yoghurt commonly sold, but almost twice the
content which if necessary could be obtained with a top up of treacle,
if one desires to consume in the premises.
I thought that this is an excellent idea which should be promoted
instead of plastic cups. The container is environment friendly and
generates income for local clay product producers.
It may be not so stylish in appearance but economical in size even to
store in a fridge. I hope that one day this will replace the plastic
yoghurt cup, where the contents get smaller and the price gets bigger.
Eat sensibly, spend wisely and live environmentally friendly.
D.P.Y. ABEYWARDHANA -
Nawala
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